Gavaskar was playing the daily cricket match with her mother in the small gallery of their house. His mother used to bowl him. One day Gavaskar hit one straight back and caught her bang on the nose, which started bleeding.

Now, as the distance was short and it was a tennis ball, the injury was really bad and she must have received great pain. The boy was frightened while his mother shrugged the pain off, washed her face and as the bleeding stopped, they started playing again.

The difference between the reaction of the boy and his mother was something to look at more closely. While Gavaskar was too young and afraid, the mother was fond of cricket and was keen on inspiring her son to be a good cricketer. She could not afford to break down with a small injury but to overcome it somehow to instill the spirit of fight in her son.